DECEMBER 3-9

DECEMBER 3-9;Happy Mail

By HUBERT B. HERRING

Published: December 10, 1995

The rule is clear: prizes in a McDonald's game called Monopoly are not transferable. But last week the company gleefully waived that rule.

Small wonder, considering the great publicity for McDonald's. Last week an envelope was mailed in Dallas -- with no note, no return address, but with a winning game card worth $1 million. It was addressed to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis. There, amid of sea of junk mail, this anonymous gift was nearly thrown out until a clerk noticed the words "instant winner."

McDonald's executives soon appeared, accompanied by an accountant armed with a jeweler's eyepiece and plastic gloves. He pronounced the card genuine, and $1 million went to a worthy cause. HUBERT B. HERRING